No time for individuals right, but wanted to say that we had a fruitful meeting with the HR dept. at Neal's work. Katie DOES get 1/2 price tuition, even after he retires in Dec., and our health insurance will stay the same rate as it is now. After Neal is 65, and no longer qualifies, I will still be able to get coverage at the same rate as the employees. That's a load off my mind!

Hi Every one
Jane I bet thats a load of your mind, oh but you already said that didn't you Have a great time with your sweet Granddaughters tonight dinner and a movie sounds like fun to me
Hi Marti, no time for you is there, I hope you are starting to feel better,have a great night, but if your working how is that possible

I am glad you received good news from HR Jane. Exciting that Neal will retire soon -

I just finished my newsletter- happy about that. I am rushing on coffee.So, I wanna chat with someone!! lol

Gaby loved her time at the community center and jungle gym time. It is only her 2nd time there and she loves it. She came kicking and screaming when I told her I had to leave. (NOTE TO SELF: do not do this with the evaluator -she will deem my as a mean mom - lol)
She really liked the slide and kept throwing the basketball down it - might get one of those for the apartment for her birthday- enough room for it.

Typed up Rebecca's papers, just rough drafts. Both girls have basketball games tomorrow.

My mom gave me my $500 money order for the attorney, I found him through "modest means" program, $60 an hour he will charge - not bad really. Worth the stresss from having to play Perry Mason .......haha.

I go down to the coast on Monday- have a 10 am appointment - back at work by 3 pm. Might take Doug but there is no school that day so who knows. .........

Rocky says he would move here if it was just himself but he seems to have a HUGE problem concerning nana,,,,,,,Mike's mom and her need to meet up and get a life. .......He says she would go for custody if he came for a visit. I say.............try it lady - call her bluff- geesh. He has 2 brothers he could leave Kris with.........you would think after 11 years Rocky deserved a vacation away with no guilt that he is abandoning Kris.....regardless........I am not kitty footing around with this lady. I am really not feeling like being the one to leave my kids behind for the headache I would get with nana.......unless Rocky is willing to move across island....lol

anyway- weighed in at 145 today,,,,,,maintaining. yay......been eating a lot of chili beans, craving those beans..............full of it ain't I ???? lol

ta ta

__________________ always splash in puddles,always go out in public with tangled hair, always eat chocolate for dinner,always lay on tummy to watch cartoons,always play before chores are done,and never wear a puffy coat again. ~Inspired by Gaby

I was on earlier in the day but didn't have much time so didn't post. DD and I went to see Hide and Seek-it was good! You would never believe the ending and that's all I am going to say. Still feeling crappy but this was for her BD so we went anyway. Didn't get the ice they said, thank goodness. But did get about 2 inches of snow. DS went out and made a HUGE snowman when he got home from work, silly boy. Looks good though. Other than that not much going on.

Susan~(((((HUGS))))) to you sweetie! I think you have had more than enough for one person. Wish I could just make it all go away. I am sure Mike's mom cares for you and Gaby but like the others said I would watch what I say to her. I would be leary and only chat day to day stuf, ie Gaby. I would also print out a copy of her email and your reply. Whoever it was that said custody battles can get nasty is oh so right. Two of my friends went thru the same stuff. One is finally at the point where her and her ex are friends but the other they are going on 3 1/2 years of bickering back and forth. It is mainly because her DH (soon to be ex one day) has a young girlfriend who doesn't want him to give any and wants him to take everything.

Marti~the coupon book I did for V for a Valentines gift. I usually get hime something special for our anniversary and his BD but silly things for V-day. Like the coupon book, candy bar that says I Love You, lots of balloons, fuzzy handcuffs, a BIG choc. kiss, etc. But I like your notebook idea. I always give surprise cards, in his lunch, or when he goes to bed I put one in his truck. I have even gone to his job and put a card in his truck. I write in the fog on the bathroom mirror, and have done it with lipstick that I don't like any more. One time I bought some post-its, the little square ones and wrote I Love You on them and put them every where in the house. When he thought he found them all he would open a cabinet and find another. Anyway...did you figure out what you are going to get him or what you guys will do?

Julie~DD and I were in tears also with the Michael Jackson guy! OMG! We couldn't quit laughing. I too only watch the beginning when they are doing the auditions because it is hilarious and I love Simon. Glad to hear you friend is coming home. While I commend him for wanting to do the honorable thing, I do think his place is at home especially with the new baby. I feel for all the guys and gals serving as well as their families.

Ellen~sure hope you get to feeling better.

Jane~I is for Innocent is much better than the last one. H was a bit on the boring side for me. I haven't finished it yet but plan to this weekend. Since getting this darn cold I haven't been able to read much. I start and don't get too far before getting sleepy.

Hi to everyone else

Monk is getting ready to come on and the new season started last week so they are all new shows and I don't want to miss it. Nighty, night ladies.

Marti - this is your weekend with Jhanai, right? Have fun! Do you have any special plans?

Katy - Sorry your "friend" wants to make you feel uncomfortable! Even more reason to cut her loose. Sounds like she has issues, you know? You're right, seems like no good deed goes unpunished!

Ellen - glad you're feeling better.

Cristi - I can't remember the story line of I, but glad you're liking it. Neal always wants one of those big kisses, too, for Valentines Day! And some Nestle Crunch candy. I also got him a jigsaw puzzle, but not sure what else I'll get for him.

Susan - glad you have a good lawyer now. That has to be a relief! I wanna get on the jungle gym with Gaby! Seems like grandparents relive their childhoods through the little ones, lol. I know I personally am having a great time, lol. Chili beans? Grab the air freshener, lol.

Cristi sent the snow clouds this way, and we got 2-3" of it last night. Everything looks so pretty! It's a real wet snow, too. Just right for making snowballs. Neal had to go out and clean off the satellite dish before he could watch the weather report today, lol.

Good morning, all
Not too much going on today. DH is going to get us Palm upgrades today... what a great invention. As soon as I got a PDA, it became a necessity, now I call it "my brain" and nothing happens if it doesn't get put in the palm pilot. Remember when PDA meant "public display of affection", lol!

I get to go to the hairdresser today, so I'm looking forward to a stretch of kid-free ME time...then I think MIL and her boyfriend are coming for dinner....so I guess it is a pretty full day once I see it all written out,

Jane (and everyone else) thank you for the support re: crazy attorney friend. I do need to get out of this one. My next mini-dilemma is how to gracefully get out of a dinner party she has invited me to on the 12th.....my babysitting plans did fall through, so I could just email that info and some polite regrets . 'Spose I should just suck it up and call her and just tell her that I feel uncomfortable attending. But then, part of her issue with me is that she says I "make" her feel bad when I try to be helpful, so this would make her feel REALLY bad....think I can come up with a graceful way to make my regrets without a nasty confrontation? Tune in next time.....

The "Boy" left this morning and I'm feeling the empty nest thing. Already miss him. The hospital says Xs brain is badly brused, that there are burses all over his head. I don't see how a fall could do that much damage. Eddie's going to find out from Docs if this was assault. I'm going to go lay down awhile. Didn't get much sleep last night.

Cristi - hope you're having a good, relaxing day with the family. Did you get more snow? We did, but it's melting now.

Katy - I've wanted a Palm Pilot ever since they came out, but I have no earthly reason for one, lol. I guess I could schedule my naps and DGD visits in one, lol. Actually, for someone without a career, I seem awfully busy at times!

Pam - this is a good rehearsal for you for when DS moves out. I have to say I'm not looking forward to the day Katie moves. She's the baby, and is just turning 18 in March, so hopefully, her moving out will be down the road quite a ways. Yikes, it does sound like your XH was assaulted, with all those bruises, even on his brain! Wouldn't he have told this to the docs? How long will Eddie be gone? Want me to come and play Candyland with you to help pass the time? (see note below, lol) I could program it in my Palm Pilot. (see note above, lol)

Marti - there you are!! You never, ever miss a day of posting in chit chat, so I was looking for you. Inquiring minds want to know the plans for your anniversary. We also want to know if we can go, too. So glad your buddy got on at OML!! Same shift and department as you?

Well, I have been beat out as the official "Candyland Champion"! Mackenzie-the-5-year-old whooped me 2 outta 3 last night, lol. Neal and I enjoyed the kids (Mackenzie and Macy) while Gina and Terry had some quiet time.

I feel great today! Had a good night's sleep, and feel energized. Not sure what we're doing, but I hope it's something fun. There's a new IMAX theater in Evansville, and I wouldn't mind seeing what's showing. Do you all have IMAXes?

Good morning Girls.Feeling better today. Not so blue.Poor DS got stuck in that ice storm going to Atlanta. He had to stay in Huston almost a whole day. He must of resembled Tom Hanks in Terminal. What a mess. X is incoherant so can't tell us what happoned and don't really know how he got so injured. It's unclear if he can ever recover enough to care for himself again. It seems unlikely at this point.He's incontinent and has trouble speaking.

I'm going to see about doing somethings I haven't had a chance to. Theres this new dog park I want to check out. Give Bon Bon a chance to play with other dogs.

Jane,haven't played Candyland sence Eddie was small. What a sweet memory that is.We loved story time to. He'd cuddle for hours if I'd read to him. I'd do it till I lost my voice.When he got older I taught him stratigy for Monopoly. He loved that to.

Since I'm so behind...I'm going to just start from here. My apologies to everyone I miss......not meaning to! James has been trying to burn a DVD and our computer just doesn't want to cooperate and has been taking too much time! So he finally gave up!

Jane--My friend was hired for the same shift as me. And department. So if we wanted to we could carpool. There were two who applied at OML that I worked with before at Sony and only one got the job. (they did have 3 positions to fill) And out of the two....I hate to say it, but I'm glad they picked him over her! (sound awful of me doesn't it since I'm friends with them both) Oh...I've wanted a palmpilot too....just not sure why. James ended up getting one for work....and other things. I have no idea how to use one so it's better that I don't have one!

Pam--I would have to go back and reread all that happened to XH......but it sure sounds like he had a beating! My brother had a seizure last year (at least he says he did) and he was black and blue and swollen all over.....to the family, it looked more like some one took him to the alley way and just beat the crud out of him! I hope your X starts feeling better.

Ok.....I've been thinking about what to do for our anniversary...and the other night James told me that he wants to take the dogs to the vet for boarding so he can take me back to Cresent City California and stay a couple days and then travel around on our way back home. We had stayed in Cresent City the first year we were together....a spur of the moment thing....we didn't even bring extra clothes just kept driving! And had to be back in time to be at work. There was so much we wanted to do while we were down there......so this time...we'll have time scheduled off, extra clothes and no worries about getting home to the dogs!! I was more than excited and have been ever since he told me. He has this HUGE smile on his face everytime we talk about it. I'm just hoping that work will grant me my days I request off.

It's probably not as exciting as I made it out to sound, but it's going to be wonderful and I can't wait!

Ok....Jhanai wants to use the computer for a little bit so I said she could. She says Hello to you all!

Hugs Ladies!!

__________________Marti

"Nobody ever drowned in sweat"-Steve Prefontaine"You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be."
-David Viscott